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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think my cleaner should stay for two hours?

231 replies

Holeandthentwo · 20/12/2021 15:27

I pay for a cleaner to clean my house every other week. The minimum you can pay for is two hours, which is fine.

However, I’ve noticed over the months that she leaves early. At first it was only ten minutes or so and I didn’t care, but it’s built up and built up so that today she arrived at 2pm and left at 3pm. I always make myself scarce when she’s there so I’m not getting in her way, but I know the times because my Ring doorbell sends an alert as she arrives and leaves.

I’m torn about whether to say anything, because it’s now half the time I pay for, but she is a good cleaner, provides all the equipment, and is happy to let herself in with the key, and I feel trusting of her having a key.

Should I say anything? Or just accept that she can clean the house in half the time I pay for?

YABU - say nothing because the clean is still being done

YANBU - say something because it’s not what I’m paying for

OP posts:
OnlyCans · 20/12/2021 16:14

Many moons ago, I used to clean houses. Some would get done quicker over time as I got into a rhythm of what was needed and I'd fly through. One we came to an agreement that he'd pay for 1.5 hours as that was all He wanted and others we discussed extra requirements or focus on something in particular each week. She won't be offended if you raise it with her but I'd be wondering why she hasn't raised it with you!

MaryAndGerryLivingInDerry · 20/12/2021 16:14

@RozHuntleysStump

I was happy to pay £14 an hour but I expected them to work for the entirety of that time. Nurses don’t get much more. I do think it’s expensive for unskilled labour. When they leave half an hour early it’s then about £20 an hour.
Why do people keep comparing cleaners to nurses? Confused

Nurses are employees, they get a pension, they get annual leave, they get maternity/paternity leave, they get sick pay, they don’t pay for the equipment they use to perform their jobs.

Of the cleaners that are employees- their employer might charge £14/hour but the cleaner will not be getting £14/ per hour.

Of the cleaners that are self employed they charge £14/hour and then they deduct their fuel, their product and equipment costs, their insurance, the electric for washing their cloths, if they use a rechargeable vacuum yeah pay for the electric to charge their batteries, they constantly have to replace their work clothes as they get covered in bleach splashes. They’re not taking home £14/hour either.

rrhuth · 20/12/2021 16:17

She should do two hours if paid for two hours. I also wouldn;t care about 10 minutes, but a whole hour less is not OK.

Hemingwayscatz · 20/12/2021 16:18

She should do the hours she’s paid for. Leaving a few minutes early is fine but a whole hour is a total pisstake. She’d get away with this if you didn’t have a ring as well. You need to tell her to either stay for two hours or you’ll only pay her for one.

Themadcleaner · 20/12/2021 16:18

I think there should be give and take, if I've worked 10 mins over the time one week I'll leave 10 mins early if I've finished quicker another week and generally that's worked well. But a whole hour, no way.

Puzzledandpissedoff · 20/12/2021 16:19

At first it was only ten minutes or so and I didn’t care, but it’s built up and built up

IME it very often does, though this was cleaning a community premises rather than a home; the next step may be asking you for an "advance" on their wages, then not turning up at all once they've got it

You can try, but once this starts it rarely gets better and it's probably time to move on to the next one. Fortunately there are some brilliant cleaners out there, so here's hoping you get one of them next time

Allgreyeverything · 20/12/2021 16:21

Why are people making this comparison? Well, If you have two arms and two legs, you can be a cleaner, tomorrow. You can even be lazy-as this thread shows. Lazy nurse without any skill and knowledge? Not so much

MaryAndGerryLivingInDerry · 20/12/2021 16:24

Lazy nurse without any skill and knowledge? Not so much

😂😂😂

You clearly don’t work for the NHS.

StruggleStreet · 20/12/2021 16:25

I had a cleaner who did this OP. 10-15 mins I don’t mind but leaving a whole hour early is unreasonable. I spoke to her about it and she said it’s just that she can now get the whole house done in 1 hour, I gave her a list of additional tasks to do in the remaining hour (cleaning the fridge, oven, etc) and miraculously by the next week the basic house cleaning was taking two hours again Confused
Have a conversation with her yes but IME someone who takes the piss will continue to do so. I’d look for another cleaner.

Sparklfairy · 20/12/2021 16:26

There's always going to be something else she could do. Can you leave her a note saying "if you have time can you do x" - then if she leaves early without doing it just sack her.

MaryAndGerryLivingInDerry · 20/12/2021 16:26

Anyway, I asked why nurse? Why specifically a nurse and not a plumber, or a care worker? You can walk into a care worker job these days. No experience needed.

Puzzledandpissedoff · 20/12/2021 16:29

To all those saying that giving her extra work would be unacceptable - presumably this cleaner looked at the job and, knowing her own work rate, said it would take 2 hours in the first place?

Admittedly things can speed up as they get to know a place, but not to that extent, so for me all that's left is dishonesty and trying to chisel cash for work not done properly

nokidshere · 20/12/2021 16:30

I pay my cleaner £20, I suppose that's essentially £10 ph but I just view it as 20 per clean. Sometimes she comes/leaves a bit earlier or later but she always does a good job. Also I have a list of 'to do' on the fridge and if she has time she does one or more of those things too.

Warblerinwinter · 20/12/2021 16:30

I don’t see how anyone can clean an entire house in one hour. Not unless they come every other day.
It takes me over an hour to just do bathroom, downstairs loo and kitchen - I’m not slow
I’d be checking very carefully what she is not doing. The trouble is if she’s not doing things like high and low level dusting, or properly scrubbing the floor (vs a quick wipe) it’ll look ok for a few months but then get grimier and grimier over time.
Check everything.
If it’s not up to a standard that will keep it clean in a few months time - give her the feedback. Explain how you want it doing. Explain that you pay for 2 hours and you know she’s not doing that and ask why not
If you can coach her into doing the right standard, keep the positive praise going.
Cleaners don’t become good by magic- you need to feedback on things you think are good and things you think aren’t good enough. Everyone’s standards are different so if you say nothing you’ll just get less and less over time. They’ll spend more time on customer s that do set out what they want clearly and that takes the time

AskItaliano · 20/12/2021 16:31

Depends whether you have an agreement for her to be paid by the hour, or to be paid by the job. Did you agree to pay £28 for the house to be cleaned, or £14 per hour to two hours of cleaning?

Our cleaner charges by the hour, so if it takes her three hours we pay that and if it takes her two and a half we pay that. When she realised it was sometimes taking less than the originally agreed three hours she asked whether we wanted her to stay the full three and to give her a list of extra jobs to do if she had chance, or whether we were happy for her to go and just pay for the time she worked. We said it was up to her as if she needed the money we were happy to keep her three hours but if she'd rather get off early that's fine too.

Ended up agreeing she'll leave once it's done and we'll pay for that time.

She's really honest and I love that about her, she works while I'm not around so she could easily have just sat on her phone or relaxing for an extra half an hour each time and charged for the full time.

You need to be straight about your agreement here and if it was to have two hours of cleaning then you need to address it. Personally if I had a cleaner who was leaving significantly early without telling me and then accepting the full pay without saying anything I'd let them go for dishonesty and find someone else.

Mummyoflittledragon · 20/12/2021 16:31

YANBU. I imagine your cleaner could find things to do. I love my cleaners. Mum and daughter team. They do exactly what I ask. I always try to gauge it so that I don’t overload them with tasks. I want things cleaned well rather than a quick lick round.

I’ve been really organised this year and bought them gifts - I normally give extra cash. But I know them well enough now to know what to give now. These are the third lot of cleaners I have had actually. The first became increasingly unreliable and the second were dire, Molly Maid. Would only do what they were contracted to do from the typed up list and very expensive, didn’t move things like the dog’s bowls to hoover behind; the laundry bin cobwebbed to the wall.

Akire · 20/12/2021 16:31

It’s like working in office and completing 10 reports a day. Then suddenly you work at faster pace and say I’m leaving at midday because I’ve done 10. Surely your standard rate is now 20 a day because that’s what you can achieve working at a steady pace. If you have sit there working really slow just to get 10 done for sake of it that’s equally dishonest. This sort thing only ever applies to cleaners though it’s v odd.

Uninterested · 20/12/2021 16:34

I’m baffled why you wouldn’t say anything. If you pay for two hours then they obviously should stay and work for two hours. There is always something they could find to do. Any cleaner I’ve had always works their hours.

Uninterested · 20/12/2021 16:35

TBH, I’d just find a new cleaner. She has shown you that she is lazy and happy to exploit you.

MissLucyEyelesbarrow · 20/12/2021 16:36

It's a bit like if you went for an hour's massage. You don't get massaged for an hour, they allow dressing and undressing time within that hour

It's nothing like a massage - in that scenario, you are taking up the masseur's time while getting dressed/undressed, so it's only fair to pay for that time, as well as the actual massage. That's totally different from suggesting that one client should pay a cleaner for the time she spends travelling to another client.

AndARiverBeneathYourFeet · 20/12/2021 16:37

@RozHuntleysStump

Fucking lazy cleaners. I’ve had a few like that. My last one was charging £14 an hour!
Says the person who cba to clean their own house??? LMAO.
Wonderfulstuff · 20/12/2021 16:39

If someone is charging for 2 hours they should carry out 2 hours worth of labour.

I don't expect to pay for somebody's travelling time that should be built into the cleaner's expense model i.e. the hourly rate also covers downtime.

I run my own business and if charged for 50% more than I was working my customers would be quick to complain.

OP - I'd have a chat and say that you've noticed that the cleaning is being completed quick than initially expected. If you're happy with the level of service then ask for your rate to be reduced to the one hour worked. If you're not happy with the amount of cleaning that's taken place then be specific about what you expect to be done in that 2 hours.

ChocolateCupcake123 · 20/12/2021 16:40

If you like and trust her, bring it up casually and mention you noticed she was finishing very quickly, would she be happy to have a list of other jobs to do once she’s finished?

Clean windows, clean the oven, microwave, toaster, skirting boards, front door, fridge, kitchen cabinets etc.

traka · 20/12/2021 16:42

I'd be fine with her only doing one hours work but I'd only pay for one hour and not two hours

Lovemusic33 · 20/12/2021 16:42

But if your only giving her enough jobs to do in one hour then why would she stay for 2? Just add a few jobs to her list. She charges a minimum of 2 hours, probably because she has to cover fuel costs etc..?
If she’s doing everything you asked her to do at a high standard then I don’t see the issue.